


Out of the Past

by CosmicStardustx, itsbeen20years, MayhemWonder



Category: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade, Beyblade
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, M/M, back at the Abbey, trial
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-25
Packaged: 2021-03-27 04:07:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30116895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CosmicStardustx/pseuds/CosmicStardustx, https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsbeen20years/pseuds/itsbeen20years, https://archiveofourown.org/users/MayhemWonder/pseuds/MayhemWonder
Summary: Kai is almost thirty and working for Soichiro. He never attended the Abbey. He never played beyblade professionally. He never met Yuriy. All is about to change when an old Abbey full of secrets is discovered and Kai founds himself involved in a criminal trial in Russia.
Relationships: Boris Kuznetsov | Bryan Kuznetsov/Tachibana Hiromi | Hilary Tachibana, Hiwatari Kai/Yuri Ivanov | Tala Valkov
Comments: 9
Kudos: 16





	1. Familiar Faces

Kai peeked at the street outside the subway station and smiled. No one he knew in sight. 

Perfect.

He exited the station quickly, trying to blend into the crowd, as if he was just one of the many salarymen on their way to another excruciatingly long day at work. Only a few meters away from the station did he slow down his pace. No one had seen him. He could walk to the office in peace.

Soichiro Hiwatari, Kai’s grandfather, prided himself in never taking public transportation. He saw the efficient Tokyo railway system as some plebeian invention, an atrocity people such as Kai and himself should be above using. Kai disagreed, and he took the subway whenever he wanted some time to himself before starting his day at Hiwatari Enterprises. What Soichiro didn’t know couldn’t hurt him.

Kai’s entire demeanour relaxed and he allowed himself to enjoy the day. The sun was shining, but it wasn’t too warm, just the beginning of the cherry blossom season in Tokyo. The light-colored concrete and tinted glass windows were glistening, almost blinding in the morning light. 

He made a quick detour to get a cup of coffee and stopped briefly at his favorite boutique to take a peek at the Spring collection in the shop window. The owner, who knew him by name by now, waved at him, but Kai pointed at his watch apologetically.

It was almost nine fifteen by the time Kai arrived at Hiwatari Enterprises. The company, led by Kai’s grandfather, was located in a glass skyscraper that had been built just five years ago, when Kai still had been in London for his MBA. Now he called one of the top floor offices his own. 

Stepping out of the elevator, the first thing he heard was the deep voice of his assistant, Hitoshi, wishing him a good morning. Kai merely nodded. After all, he was “a man of few words but great style”, as journalist Max Mizuhara put it in his last article about the ten most influential men under 30 in Tokyo. 

Max was a good friend, they had bonded over a feature about Hiwatari Enterprise’s charities a few years back, but still - Max would not write things about Kai that were not true. 

Hitoshi followed him into his office, where Kai put his coffee down and pulled his laptop from his bag. “Today is rather calm, isn’t it?” Kai asked.

“It is,” Hitoshi confirmed and briefly looked at his notepad, “You have your daily touch base with Mr. Hiwatari Sr. at ten, and then a conference call with MUFG Bank at three in the afternoon. Oh, and lunch with Miss Tatchibana at one o’clock.”

“Yes, good. Can you do me a favor and ask for the March statistics downstairs again? I still didn’t get them.” 

“On it, Sir.” With that, Hitoshi left. Kai could not help but grin: his assistant was a few years older than him, and male, but somehow, their dynamic worked perfectly. 

Hitoshi’s career at Hiwatari Enterprise was due to sheer luck. His youngest brother was some famous beyblader, a fun fact Hitoshi had used to get on the HR’s good side. However, it had quickly appeared that Hitoshi wouldn’t make a businessman, thanks to his overly perfectionist tendencies and his abrasive personality. Fortunately, Kai had noticed Hitoshi’s unparalleled attention to detail before he was fired and had immediately offered him a position as his assistant. Hitoshi was not the most fun guy to hang out with, but Kai had never missed a meeting, and his calendar was color-coded.

Since it was a slow morning, Kai allowed himself to lazily read the news online. He needed to know what was going on in the world, at least for small talk with his international business partners. In the US, the stock market had risen to a new record high yesterday. The European Union had been trying to implement a new copyright law. Then, there was a curious story from Russia: apparently, some maniac had made good use of the overall chaos after the collapse of the Soviet Union and secretly abducted street kids to turn them into some sort of child soldiers. The whole thing had come to light during last week after some kind of mass grave had been found in a building site in the middle of Moscow. Now the case of the “Horror Abbey”, as the media dubbed it, was all over the internet. 

“Wild,” Kai muttered to himself while he scanned the article. Despite having some Russian ancestry - his grandmother was from Ulan-Ude- Kai had rarely been to Russia. His grandfather had tried to gain a foothold in Moscow during the 90s, but apparently he never really found good business partners, or so that’s what he said. Now, Kai and Soichiro only visited the country for the mandatory visits to their Russian offices and occasional holidays.

Business with Russia was rather slow and pretty insignificant compared to their overall revenue. Alas, as this story reminded him of the neglected subsidiaries, Kai decided to touch base with them soon, if only to check if this scandal, or whatever it was, was somehow going to be disruptive for the Russian market. He texted Hitoshi and asked him to schedule a few calls this week.

* * *

Kai entered Soichiro’s office at ten sharp. Soichiro didn’t tolerate lateness of any kind. 

He was a broad, intimidating man, and not only in the context of business. Kai had learned to appreciate him; the word “love” didn’t seem fitting for their relationship. He was Soichiro’s sole heir, and heir to the whole company, and sometimes it felt like that was the only reason Soichiro would even put up with him in the first place. Even as a kid Kai, could tell his grandfather didn’t really know how to deal with him; their relationship warmed up only after he finished his Bachelor’s degree and started as a trainee in the company. These days, they were getting along just fine, at least as long as things in the company went normal. 

“What is that hideous thing you’re wearing?” were the first words that came from Soichiro’s mouth. 

Kai looked down, confused, “It’s a suit?” Was a tailored one, too. 

Soichiro almost imperceptibly scrunched his nose. “The shirt.”

Kai stared down at his own shirt, where delicate flowery patterns added a tasteful touch of silver to the white fabric. “It’s still white,” he argued.

Soichiro’s eyebrow twitched. “You look like a teacup.”

Kai could not see how this was a bad thing, but he kept his mouth shut for the sake of peace and quiet. While his grandfather was taking his seat behind his massive wooden desk, Kai sat down on the other side, slid the chair back a bit to make room for his legs. Soichiro then began his usual interrogation about figures and numbers and the latest reports. Kai kept his answers straight to the point, knowing his grandfather wasn’t looking for a dissertation.

However, after a few minutes, Kai noticed that something was… off. His grandfather seemed distracted, almost absent-minded. He had to repeat several sentences because Soichiro apparently hadn’t listened. That never had happened before. 

He discreetly started to look around for evidence that could explain his grandfather’s behavior. Soichiro’s face gave nothing away as usual, and the surroundings seemed to be just as yesterday - bookshelves filled to the brink with leather-bound volumes, not to be read but to be looked at; the huge, old-fashioned desk with the old-fashioned paper weights and old-fashioned fountain pens... 

Kai's gaze darted to the scrunched up newspaper at the centre of Soichiro's desk. Bizarre. Soichiro’s daily newspaper was always folded back neatly after his perusal and placed to the left, along with other documents that needed to be either shredded or recycled. Kai's eyes narrowed for the briefest of moments as he wondered if it was something that he read that had his grandfather behave so uncharacteristically. 

“Is everything okay?” Kai finally asked bluntly. 

Soichiro’s eyes shot up - they were dark in his pale face, framed by grey hair. Apart from the eyes, the old man was remarkably colorless. Even his clothes were just different shades of grey. They stared at each other for a few seconds, and Kai noticed how he had to look down a bit, because he eventually had become taller than his grandfather, even when sitting - then Soichiro looked away. 

“It’s nothing,” he said, “It’s none of your business. Go on. You were talking about production lines…” 

* * *

“Oh my God, Kai, you - you look so fab!”

Hiromi Tatchibana pulled him in a tight, very un-Japanese hug. She smelled like fresh air and sunscreen, as if she had spent the first half of the day laying on the beach instead of working in an office cubicle just a few hundred metres away from here. They had the habit of meeting up in a lunch place located in a modern atrium building, where they could grab some food and sit down in the inner courtyard to get some unfiltered air. 

“Thank you,” Kai said. Hiromi’s words brought some consolation after what his grandfather had to say about his choice of clothes. 

“You should wear things like that more often,” his friend continued, “Ugh, I wish I could wear something nice for work, but in a position like mine you gotta blend in… You sure you don’t wanna employ me?”

“You don’t want to work with me,” Kai answered, and he wasn’t joking. Hiromi was smart, fun, ambitious, and way too good to be crushed by Soichiro’s leadership. He wanted to keep his best friend’s spirit intact. Furthermore, he rarely mixed his professional and personal life. Kai had few friends. He was bored quickly, so everyone who wanted to befriend him better made it worth his time. People he liked as colleagues were not the same people he liked as friends.

They sat down in their usual spot outside, underneath the branches of a tree that had been planted at the centre of the courtyard. The bench must’ve been in the sunlight until recently, because the wood was still warm. The acoustics in here were awful; one could hear every step on the mosaic floor, and voices echoed from the surrounding glass windows, behind which more offices lay. 

“Have you heard about that Horror Abbey in Russia?” Hiromi asked while Kai was biting into his sandwich. He nodded.

“Such a crazy story,” she continued, “First, they find a pile of bodies as soon as they start renovating the building. And from that, it gets wilder and wilder.”

“I haven’t heard much,” Kai admitted, “What’s it all about?”

Hiromi’s eyes lit up. She was a huge true crime fan and would tell Kai about the most horrible cases regularly. By now he had learned to continue eating while his friend would talk to him about murders and kidnappings. 

“So,” she said, “Here is the thing: There is this Abbey in the outskirts of Moscow, just some old abandoned building. It has been empty for a decade or so. A few weeks ago, the city decided to investigate if it was a ruin to be demolished, or a historical building worth renovating, so they sent a team to take some pictures, the usual deal… And they found… disturbing things.”

Hiromi took a sip of her drink, and Kai rolled his eyes at how excited this story made her.

“Turns out that this Abbey used to be a school, or an orphanage, I am not so sure. They found desks and chairs, of course. But when they went to the basement, they discovered the place wasn’t a legit school at all. I’m talking torture chambers and stuff. Like, really horrible. And of course… you’ve heard of the bodies they found in the forest. Children bodies.”

Kai felt a shiver running down his spine, despite the warm spring weather. Hiromi didn’t seem to notice, as she continued her story.

“So everyone is like - what happened to the kids? And _then_ " - She paused to take another bite from her sandwich. “Then all of a sudden, some names came up in the newspapers, of some boys that _lived there_ , and thankfully for them, the Abbey shut down before they joined the _children in the forest_ ,” she finished in a stage whisper. Hiromi then looked at Kai as if she was telling him something of utter importance. “They’re like our age, so this is _really_ wild. The police found their names in old records and I think they’re now being interrogated.”

“That’s crazy,” Kai said, unsure what kind of reaction Hiromi was expecting.

“Yeah, right? I suppose we’ll know soon enough. Moscow is under massive pressure to find who the hell tortured kids for years. The public can’t believe a place like this existed right under their nose.”

“I suppose a few corrupted people will end up in jail,” Kai offered, wanting to wrap this conversation, his hunger having suddenly vanished.

“Yup. Maybe you should ask the journalists you know if they have more details.”

"I suppose I could ask Max," he mumbled, if only to placate her. At the moment, he had no intention of delving deeper into the matter. The talk of murdered children was already enough to put him off his food. 

Hiromi finally sensed his malaise, because she switched topics. “So, any news from the cute cardiologist you were talking to?”

“Yeah. We’re going for a few drinks tonight.”

“Ohh, exciting. Ask him if he has single doctor friends,” Hiromi said, “straight ones please.”

Kai rolled his eyes at Hiromi. “I’ll check first if he’s decent. Then we can see if he has friends who like gruesome stories as much as you do.”

Hiromi’s mouth stretched in a wide smile. “Deal.”

* * *

Kai made his way back to his apartment shortly before midnight. Despite the lack of meetings, there had been loads of paperwork piling up on his desk, so he had been forced to push his date to an even later hour.

The stupid date hadn’t even been worth it. As it turned out, the cardiologist was as plain as the white shirts Soichiro fancied. His grandfather might have even approved of the guy, even though he usually took no interest at all in Kai’s private life, as long as it wasn’t in the newspapers, and Kai made sure that never happened. Not that there had been anything newsworthy going on tonight: He had two drinks, more to unwind than anything else, then had called it a night.

It was only on the taxi ride back home that he noticed his phone was turned off. Kai shrugged. He often forgot to charge it, so this wasn’t out of the ordinary. If anything important had come up, Hitoshi would have taken care of it.

He allowed himself to relax in the seat and listened to the evening news the driver had put as background noise.

Of course, it was all about the Horror Abbey. The commentator repeated what Hiromi had told him, a few gruesome details sprinkled here and there. Kai was about to ask the driver to put some music on instead, when he heard words that made the blood freeze in his veins.

_“We have new information concerning the case of the so-called “Horror Abbey” in Moscow, Russia. As police reported in a press statement a few minutes ago, it seems like Hiwatari Enterprises had been a sponsor for the alleged orphanage where several children have been tortured and murdered. This makes the Japanese company heavily involved and an important witness in the case. At this point in time, representatives of the company have declined all questions.”_


	2. Guess Who's Back in Town?

Soichiro was rarely angry.

That was a trait Kai had inherited from him. Both men were often displeased, or annoyed at things, but their feelings rarely culminated in full-blown anger. One would never see, for instance, Soichiro yell at his laptop when it froze unexpectedly.

Hence, Kai was pretty surprised when he arrived at the manor later that night and heard Soichiro in an agitated phone discussion. He had barricaded himself in his home office, but his booming voice was loud enough to get through the door.

“No, I don’t want anyone commenting. No- tell him any journalist showing up to the building will be thrown out.”

Kai knocked softly on the door and waited.

The second he had heard the news, he had ordered the taxi driver to change his course and to make its way to the manor. There was no point going to his apartment. The manor was, and always had been, the lair of the Hiwatari family. Built in the beginning of the last century modelled on the British style, it stood on a hill between villas of other affluent families - dark and secretive in the midst of an overflowing, labyrinthic garden. Normally Kai could see some of the greenery from the window on the wall opposite him, but now there was only velvet darkness on the other side of the glass. The carpet beneath his feet swallowed the sounds - save for his grandfather’s yelling that is - and the paintings on the walls showed romantically stylized landscapes foreign to Japan. 

After a moment, Soichiro ended his phone conversation and called him in. When he saw Kai, his face darkened.

“Where were you?” he asked from between his teeth.

“I was at a strip club, snorting cocaine with our competitors,” Kai answered in a dry tone.

Soichiro rolled his eyes. “Now isn’t the time for your childish attitude.”

Kai entered and plopped himself on one of the large leather chairs. Soichiro sat down behind his desk.

Kai immediately broke the silence. “Were you going to tell me? That our name will appear in the Horror Abbey case? Or was I supposed to find out by myself on the news?”

“This wasn’t supposed to get out,” Soichiro hissed, ”they were supposed to quickly find out our involvement was minimal and leave us the hell alone.”

“ _ They _ ?”

“Russian authorities. I guess I have no choice now," Soichiro ran a hand through his grey hair and held Kai's gaze for a moment. "Listen carefully, Kai.

Soichiro took a deep breath and started, “Do you remember… Boris Nikolaievich Balkov?”

Kai’s blood froze in his veins. The wind howled around the house like in a winter storm, and Kai interpreted this sudden noise as a bad omen.

Of course he remembered. Balkov was a former Russian business partner of Soichiro. Kai had met the man only a handful of times as a child, but it had been enough to give him the certitude this man was up to no good. However, Soichiro had sung his praises for years and even invited Balkov to the manor a few times. As he got older, Kai had always wondered if his impression of the man had been clouded by the generational and cultural differences between them, or if his gut feeling had been right all along.

Kai offered a vague, “Yes, I remember him.”

Soichiro nodded. “Right. You are aware that Hiwatari Enterprises attempted to gain traction in Russia, after the collapse of the Soviet Union?”

Kai nodded back. It had been a wild time, it was said, with a whole economic system collapsing and leaving endless suffering for the people, but also unknown treasures for those willing to gamble a bit. Russia’s natural resources alone had made many Western investors forget their ideological reservations. And Soichiro wasn’t a man that paid too much attention to political delicacies. 

Soichiro clasped his hands together, and took a few seconds to gather his thoughts. When he spoke, his voice was calmer. “One of my… ideas was to develop our network by… dabbling in charity work in Moscow. I thought it would be a great way to meet potential business partners. From that point, we would have been able to expand. Unfortunately, it seems our name fell into the wrong ears. A few months in, Boris approached me and told me about this orphanage he was administrating.”   
  
Kai felt all colours drain from his face.

The infamous Abbey.

Soichiro confirmed his doubts. “The orphanage was nicknamed ‘the Balkov Abbey’, after its headmaster. I am afraid I forgot the real name, it’s been so long. Boris pitched his orphanage and Hiwatari Enterprises invested a trivial sum in it, thinking it would be used to renovate the dormitories.”

Kai’s lips formed a line. This made more sense. Hiwatari Enterprises had a yearly budget that went into good causes and various charities.

“We donated regularly, for a few years. Eventually… these investments didn’t lead to anything for our company and we ended our collaboration. I didn’t think much of it at the time. Being in business means, once in a while, wasting time, or money. The total sum was too small to be of real significance to Hiwatari Enterprises anyway.”

“But the amount is high enough to appear on paper and make us key witnesses?” Kai asked.

Soichiro visibly relaxed, probably happy that Kai had guessed the rest. “Exactly. I didn’t want to mention it, because I was certain the authorities would do their due diligence and notice our involvement was limited. Unfortunately, we’re… a big name, even in Russia. Those dirty journalists are ready to jump on any piece of information to get the public’s attention. It seems we’ll have to salvage our reputation ourselves, in court.”

Kai raised an eyebrow. “Right. I suppose we’re going to Russia?”

Soichiro’s lips formed a conspicuous smile. “You are half correct, Kai.  _ You’re _ going to Russia.”

* * *

_Later_  
  
A business visa for Russia took a few weeks and an ungodly amount of paperwork. Thankfully, Kai had renewed his last year and it was still valid.

Kai was certain going to Moscow right now was an overkill, however, he told himself that the faster he dealt with this stupid trial, the faster he was back in Japan. It was almost morning by the time he climbed in the Hiwatari private jet that would bring him to Russia.

After his conversation with Soichiro, Kai had gone back to his place and hastily packed for his departure. Hitoshi had apparently been informed of Kai’s little trip in advance, because he had delivered him a box full of printed news that weren’t broadcasted outside Russia and any document, especially financial, that he could find in the Hiwatari Enterprises archives that mentioned anything about Moscow or an abbey. 

On his way to the airport, Kai had sent a quick text to Hiromi. 

_ I won’t be able to make it to lunch for a few days. Explain tomorrow.  _

Kai had chosen to face the flight to Moscow in more comfortable clothes; dark red lounge pants, a soft white cotton t-shirt, a warm coat, and his favourite white cashmere pashmina to wrap around his neck to keep warm. The plane was going to be cold and since Kai wasn’t sure how long he would be in Russia, he had brought plenty of clothes. Moscow’s Spring and Tokyo’s Spring were two very different climates. He’d change before they landed, he decided. Settling into his seat when the plane finally began moving, Kai allowed his mind to reflect on everything that had happened in the last hours.

Soichiro was still recovering from heart surgery. Years of stress, rich food and no exercise had given him a weak heart, and the surgeons had to put in two stents and told him to get as much rest as possible. But even in his ailing health, he insisted on coming into the office everyday and often staying later than most. It was always him who made the final decisions, not Kai. So it struck the young Hiwatari as slightly odd that Soichiro chose  _ him _ to represent the company in Russia, instead of going himself. Kai had a nagging suspicion that Soichiro didn’t see him as remotely competent, despite him working at the company for a couple years and having the education to back up the position he had been automatically assigned because of his name. Sighing, Kai decided that it must ultimately be Soichiro’s weak health that stopped him from attending the trial itself. After all, his team of doctors were in Japan, and he didn’t trust anyone else to look after him. 

Glancing out the window for a brief moment, Kai allowed himself to be lost in the inky expanse of nothingness on the outside, coloured with dark hues of purple and blue on a canvas of black. The clouds they’d already flown over invisible against the darkness. Kai wondered what it would be like to be lost in space, feeling utterly alone the longer he looked outside. His mind wandered to what Hiromi had said about the children being tortured and murdered, and the shallow graves in which they had been tossed and unearthed from. The nothingness outside made him think of himself, completely unaware of what he was really about to encounter. He wondered if the children in their stay at the Abbey had felt the same way, lost, alone and scared. He hoped desperately that his grandfather was telling the truth, and that their involvement was only financial and Soichiro had been entirely unaware of the true goings on at the Abbey. A shiver ran down his spine, and it wasn’t entirely from the cold. 

Kai jolted out of his inner musings, and turned his attention to the box of thick folders his driver had placed on the seat opposite him. Hitoshi had sent him only physical hard copies, no electronic media. If Kai’s laptop got stolen or hacked, anyone would have access to sensitive information and it wasn’t worth the risk. Moreover, if by a bad twist of luck the court subpoenaed their documents, emails and correspondence as evidence, at least crucial details wouldn’t be served on a silver platter. 

Unclasping the first folder, Kai found yellowing pages of hand and typewritten bank statements and transaction records, all in Russian. Trailing his eyes over the Cyrillic letters, he quickly found Boris’ name and the monthly payments made to him through ‘Hiwatari Charitable Trust’. Always the same amount and always on the first of every month for a few years until the payments stopped abruptly and completely, he discovered after leafing through them, jotting down the total amount in a corner at the back of the last page. Kai’s brow furrowed at the number. It was not an insignificant amount of money, but in the grand scheme of things, it was trivial to the Hiwataris. Kai spent more on clothes every year. Soichiro had been right, it was nowhere near enough to declare them major financial contributors to the organization the way the media was claiming. 

Kai opened the next folder. Hitoshi had downloaded and printed out articles from Russian newspapers that ran the story. Hitoshi didn’t speak a word of Russian and had either run the websites through a translator program, or asked Russian-speaking interns for help. Unfortunately, his efforts had given mixed results. Some articles were relevant, but others focused on Moscow’s Orthodox churches and abbeys, nothing about what Kai currently needed. Sighing, Kai sorted through them, put away the unrelated papers, and focused on the ones that  _ could _ give him the information he needed. 

Some articles had photos of the actual Abbey, and it only served to confuse Kai even more. The cost of maintaining that massive building alone would have made the Hiwatari donation seem ridiculous. Surely, the Abbey had benefited from more generous sponsors throughout its history. 

Halfway through the folder, Kai had barely found anything he didn’t know already. Some articles indicated an address, some pointed out that the Abbey was a historical landmark, but most of them focused on sensationalizing the news, just like the Japanese and international media had. 

Kai rubbed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Bracing himself for more of the same insignificant details, he began reading through the rest of the articles. 

Finally, his efforts began to pay off - he found a photo of Balkov, clearly an old one. The man looked the same as Kai remembered him, the same piercing, heavy hooded eyes and grimace etched deep into his face. The longer he looked at the photo, the more uncomfortable he got. It was the eyes, they somehow looked lifeless in the photo, lacking all emotion, and Kai felt like they were staring at him. 

Slamming that paper face down harder than necessary, Kai turned his attention to the next article, and his blood ran a little cold. The lifeless eyes of Boris were staring back up at him again, except he hadn't been photographed alone this time. Four young boys stood in front of him, their features blurry from the poor quality of the photo, their identical hard expressions very unnatural on teenage boys. Kai had only seen these kinds of expressions before on soldiers in documentaries or on serious crime survivors being interviewed, but never on boys that young. Perhaps there was some basis to the rumour of abused children. 

Kai studied the photo some more, Balkov had his hands placed protectively on the shoulders of one of them. The boy Balkov was holding looked thin, but it was hard to tell if he was underfed from the thick layers of his clothing. His hair was unusual, painstakingly styled into the shape of triangular horns at the back of his head, maybe in an effort to look more threatening. Kai couldn’t read his eyes, but the face was soft, even with the sharp angular lines of his cheekbones.

Kai had only met Balkov a few times, and spoken with him even fewer times but it was enough for him to have developed a strong, unshakeable feeling in his gut that the only thing that man cared to protect was himself, and was not to be trusted. Kai had learned his people reading skills from Soichiro, and part of him wondered how his grandfather had made such a grave error in judgement and had trusted a man such as Boris enough to do business with him, and even allowed the man into their home on occasion. Taking his eyes off the picture, Kai turned his attention to the headline. 

_ Boris the Blade: Moscow team, Borg, set for Western Russia regional Beyblade championship, Coach Balkov certain of victory.  _

Kai’s eyebrows lifted, unsure of what surprised him more. The fact that grandfather was funding an academy that had a beyblade team, a decidedly children’s sport, or that the strange, creepy man was deemed fit to coach a team, any team at all.

Kai hadn’t beybladed often. He used to play with his father, Susumu, when he was a child. His father had been a good beyblader and was passionate about the game, so much that he had let it consume him. As some people become addicted to gambling, his father became addicted to his hobby. At one point, Soichiro had been forced to take the difficult decision to fire Susumu from the company. The blow must have been terrible, because Kai had not seen his father ever since, and Soichiro had banned even the mention of beyblades in the manor. 

It was then strange that Soichiro, who had cast away his own son for the greater good, had been unable to feel Balkov’s nauseating aura. Kai remembered his own sport coaches from his school days. Most of them had been strict, but encouraging and fair, qualities he didn’t see Balkov capable of possessing. 

Reading the article, Kai found that it mostly just sang praises of Balkov, lauding him for putting together a team of ‘troubled youths and orphaned children’, giving them 'constructive direction in life', teaching them important skills such as teamwork and stress management. The article only mentioned the Abbey once in relation to a training centre, but nothing more. From this angle, the beyblade team looked more and more like a cheap PR stunt, a creative way of seeking more donations. Kai set it aside, not without a final look to Balkov and his robotic proteges.

The next article was from a few weeks ago. It featured a photo of four men, three of whom looked to be around his own age and one fairly younger, perhaps in his early twenties. The title gave every detail Kai needed.  _ Horror Abbey Case: Four Witnesses Called to Testify. _ Their names were not printed in the article - it simply said they had staunchly refused to comment - and their connection to the case was kept vague. Kai supposed they were the former students so often mentioned.

Kai pulled out the last folder out of the box, the one at the bottom. A very thin one that only held three pieces of paper. Grabbing them all out at once, he realized they were photographs, stored carefully between pieces of delicate parchment paper. He wasn’t certain when they had been taken, but judging by the image quality, they weren’t recent. 

The first one was a plain outside shot of the Abbey. The second one was a picture of the childrens’ dormitories, probably the one that was supposed to be renovated using their donation. Kai sighed in relief. Nothing groundbreaking here.

The third one was a group of about ten boys, most in their mid-teens, all wearing fingerless gloves and warm athletic clothing. Holding stern expressions, eyes either angry or vacant and their fists tightly clenched by their sides, as if massively uncomfortable that they had to pose at all. Searching their faces, Kai spotted the four men from the previous newspaper article. He briefly wondered if someone had bribed them to make a statement and quickly dismissed the thought, as it felt unjust and macabre in this situation. They had been through hell and came back to talk about it. Sooner rather than later he would have to speak to them to find out what was going on, preferably before the trial began.

He turned over the photograph to put behind the pile he was holding when something on the back of it caught his eye. 

In a neat, large scrawl were written the words, 

_ These are the best and the strongest of our academy. Final selection will be completed tomorrow.  _

Kai’s eyes narrowed a little as he read the words, wondering why Balkov would bother to send his grandfather such a picture. What selection was this? A beyblade team selection perhaps? Why would his grandfather care about a PR stunt, especially involving a sport he evidently hated so much?

Allowing his eyes to flutter close once he had exhausted all the information he had been given, Kai laid his head back, wrapping himself in the scarf as he tried to get more comfortable. 

His sleep was peppered with vivid nightmares. Children looking lost and scared, their faces blurred but one boy in particular was clear, an amalgam his brain had made from all the photos he'd seen. Aleksander, he decided to name him. Vague and distant voices called out for help to Kai, who shifted uncomfortably in the plush leather seat in his sleep. 

He only woke up a few minutes before landing, and was too tired to change.

* * *

The stamp in his passport was still wet when the police found him. 

A person in plain clothing stepped right in his way as he was heading towards the airport exit. 

“Kai Hiwatari?” she asked, and only then Kai understood that this was not at all by accident. The woman he was looking at had bright green eyes and long, dark hair tied up in a high ponytail. Kai couldn’t help but notice she was stunning. 

This was bad. She was probably a reporter with good sources. Kai attempted to ignore her, but the woman followed him through the arrival area and quickly got back to his level.

“My name is Mariam Shields,” she said in a voice that meant business. “I am from the Moscow Criminal Department. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions.” 

Kai slowed down. The police? Now this was worse.

“Can I see your badge?” Kai asked in a voice he wanted annoyed.

Mariam pulled her badge out of her pocket and showed it to him briefly. Kai nodded. “So is this an official police interrogation?” he asked.

“Not yet,” Mariam replied unfazed, “I just have a few questions. Am I right in assuming that you are here because of your family’s involvement in the Balkov case?” 

They stepped out into the fresh, cold Spring air that was enriched by the smell of gasoline. A few taxis were lining up, and a bit further away Kai saw the black Mercedes that the company had sent to pick him up. 

“I am in Moscow for business,” he replied, “Which, of course, also means that I will have a look at this whole… affair eventually.”

From the corner of his eye, Kai saw the chauffeur of the Mercedes waving at him. He walked towards the car, but Mariam Shields was apparently not done.

“Don’t you find it strange that a Japanese multinational would be involved with a Russian orphanage?”

Kai accelerated his pace and got to the car at last. The driver picked up his suitcases and Kai opened the back door. 

“I have no further comments to make. Talk to our lawyer for details,” Kai added, and without a last look at the detective, he entered the car and locked the door behind him.


End file.
